Engineering: leader della Digital Transformation

Double-digit growth in revenues and profitability for the Group engaged in supporting the digital transformation of private and public companies by developing solutions based on the most advanced enabling technologies. Financial year 2019 opened against a backdrop of investments and acquisitions.

Rome,
March 15 2019

PRODUCTION VALUE has reached 1,180 million euro, up about 15% YoY

Adjusted EBITDA stands at 147.2 million euro, up about 20% YoY

EBIT is 78 million euro, up 20.5% YoY

NET PROFIT stands at 57.7 million euro, an increase of 10.4% YoY

NET FINANCIAL POSITION has been halved (from -138 to -69 million euro)

Events following closing of the financial statements included closing for the acquisition of 51% of Cybertech, operating in the critical and rapidly expanding cybersecurity sector, and acquisition of Kiunsys which is specialized in hardware, software and Internet of Things for advanced Smart Mobility, Smart Parking and City Logistics projects.

The Board of Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A. has approved the 2018 draft Financial Statements and consolidated Financial Statements. Despite the slowdown in the international economy during the financial year, and of the Italian economy in particular in the last two quarters, the Group recorded strong growth, in terms of both revenues and profitability.

Paolo Pandozy, CEO of Engineering, commented: “We have achieved significant results thanks to the ability to combine consolidated knowledge of business processes with the opportunities provided by the most recent developments in technology. The experience gained on issues such as Cybersecurity, IoT, Cloud, Big Data, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence has allowed us to offer the market solutions and applications that are often crucial for supporting digital evolution of the business and services of our customers. Italy is central for us, but the weight of the overseas market is growing, with particularly interesting performances in South America, Germany and the United States”.

The consolidated Financial Statements of the Engineering Group at December 31, 2018 show production value settle at 1,180 million euro, up about 15%. Adjusted EBITDA is 147.2 million euro, up about 20%, while EBIT is 78 million euro, with an increase of 20.5% and a percentage profitability of 6.8%. Finally, net profit stands at 57.7 million euro, up 10.4% compared with 2017. Worthy of note is the evolution of the Financial Position which has improved from -138 to -69 million euro.

2018 saw the Group engaged in an important path of evolution of the offer aimed at developing increasingly innovative services, with an “open” and transversal approach to all technologies in order to ensure customers maximum independence and rapid transformation of processes. This transformation was built through solutions based on enabling technologies which attracted strong investments, and ever stronger synergy and integration among the Group's divisions and companies.

The most significant events following closing of the financial statements included closing for the acquisition of 51% of the number one nationwide operator specialized in cybersecurity and one of the main European players, which now operates under the name of Cybertech. This is an agreement with a strong industrial value that allows the Group to oversee the many areas in which cybersecurity represents a critical and crucial front in an even more significant way.

MARKETS AND RESULTS:

FINANCEThis is the market that saw the strongest growth during the financial year in terms of both business volumes and profitability, recording +51.5% in terms of production value and +52.6% of EBITDA respectively. These results reflect the effects of the important merger operation through incorporation of Infogroup and the ability to effectively implement the strategy of developing solutions based on the most advanced technologies in response to the growing demand of the banking industry for tools capable of supporting it in an increasingly complex and enlarged competitive arena.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONThe Group operates in the Public Administration (both central and local) and Healthcare market, with a wide range of solutions designed to put citizens at the center and simplify their life. This is a particularly challenging and complex market in which Engineering exceeded the set goals in 2018, achieving 1.6% growth in terms of production value and a 9% increase in EBITDA. Results on the local PA front were particularly positive thanks to the acquisition of numerous new contracts at the level of Regions and the important work carried out by the subsidiary Municipia with municipalities. In addition to supporting performance of the segment in question, the results laid the foundations for growth in the current financial year. In this area in February 2019, acquisition was completed of the Kiunsys company, which specializes in urban smart mobility solutions that are already being used in about 40 Italian cities and major German cities. These are a series of services that Municipia offers with the Augmented City offer for piloting the transformation of urban areas to the benefit of citizens and administrations.

INDUSTRY and SERVICESThe strong need for digital transformation in 2018 also led to constant investment by industry in all the different areas of the production development cycle and corporate business. At the same time, over the last two years, Engineering has invested significantly in developing an integrated offer capable of supporting companies from the product design (PLM) and production (MES) phases up to all repercussions on management systems (ERP). During the 2018 financial year, such an approach allowed this market to record growth of around 8% in terms of production value and a 5.2% increase in EBITDA. It should be noted that a particular contribution to the results comes from the automotive segment, where the Group has reached a stable and effective presence especially in the manufacturing area, while solid foundations have been laid for international planning in the infrastructure segment.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS & UTILITIESIn the highly competitive TELECOMMUNICATIONS market, Engineering recorded a 15.3% growth in production value, demonstrating its ability to establish itself even in an already highly digitized and particularly complex segment with a diversified offer of services and consultancy. The Group remains one of the main players thanks to the efficiency of its proprietary Net@suite and Geocall (OverIT) solutions – based on the Group's Hybrid Cloud platform. Thanks to completion of investment in the Net@2A product, projects in the water sector have been successfully launched; at the same time, major projects have been implemented on Cloud and Big Data architectures to support and mentor customers in digital transformation.